Meryl and the Grey Hair
by JasperK
Summary: An unanticipated predicament for Meryl. A little tale of silliness between the fab four.


Spoilers minimal (Trigun Maximum)

* * *

Had it been anyone else who noticed it, Meryl would have slapped them. As 'anyone else' constituted Vash and Wolfwood, she doubted they even looked so close. However, she had been sitting at the supper table when Milly had taken the warmed rolls from the oven.

"Oh, Miss Meryl, you have flour in your hair." She brushed it off then paused. "Oh, your hair is all silvery here."

"What?" Meryl had exclaimed before being able to stop herself.

Vash and Wolfwood who had been discussing the best of that year's malt looked up.

Meryl glowered at Milly and put her hand over her hair.

"What's wrong?" Wolfwood asked, not particularly interested.

"Miss Meryl has a silver hair."

"Milly!" Meryl clenched her hand over her head. "They did not need to know that!"

Vash was giving her a wide eyed stare of concern and Wolfwood's face split into a grin.

"So, age has finally caught up to you." Wolfwood said smoothly. "You'll have to retire soon, and quit tailing us."

"I am not tailing you, I am tailing him." Meryl said coolly. "And I am, er, young enough to be tailing him for years."

Vash's wide eyed concern took on a sort of wary endurance.

"Eh, Spikey, don't say you're just going to let her dictate your life. She's, what, like forty?"

"Forty!" Meryl exploded.

"Sorry, was that fifty?"

Meryl clenched her fists, a vein throbbing at her temple. If he said anything more, she was going to pound him. Milly's clear voice intervened.

"Mister Priest, Miss Meryl is only twenty-"

"Milly!"

"Sorry Miss Meryl." Milly said meekly.

"Put down the rolls, and let's eat dinner." Meryl grouched.

.

Meryl noticed how when Wolfwood walked past, to refill his beer, that he stared at her head. She ignored him. He was clearly looking for a response. However, when Vash did it, he leaned over and peered right at it. She jabbed her elbow back and he dodged.

"I-I was only looking. It's not all that silvery, just kind of white, and there's only three of them." He said.

"Three!" Meryl slapped her hand back on top of her head. Vash was still standing there; she grabbed his duster with her free hand and tried to shove him back to his seat. "Sit down and stop staring!"

"H-hey, you stare at my hair all the time. W-why can't I look at yours?"

"I do not!" Meryl said sharply, feeling a flush come to her cheeks.

"But Miss Meryl, you do." Milly said.

Wolfwood gave a chuckle that left nothing to the imagination.

Meryl glared at them. Since Vash had gained that sweep of black hair, she had been very curious to discover if he had dyed it or not. She had not thought others had noticed, especially not Vash. Agh, why did she always forget that he saw things? Probably because he talked so much she expected him to talk about what he observed, rather than utter nonsense. Vash laughed and preened.

"I'm going the other way, and I'm further along that you, three hairs is nothing to complain about."

"What do you mean Mister Vash?" Milly asked. "Do blond people go black instead of grey?"

"Er." Vash frowned, suddenly thoughtful. "I don't know."

"No, Milly, they don't, they go grey like normal people." Meryl said. "Vash quit being an idiot and sit down."

"H-hey!" He protested, hurt. "I was only trying to help."

"Dying your hair silly colours isn't much of a disguise, why don't you change your red coat?" Meryl snapped at him.

Vash winced and slunk over to sit down beside Wolfwood, mouthing 'grouchy' as he went. Meryl gritted her teeth and ignored him. At least he had stopped staring at her head. Three hairs? Really?

.

"Oh man." Vash sighed in a put upon manner. "Your turn."

"What do you mean my turn?" Wolfwood demanded. "You dug yourself into that hole, get yourself out!" He turned to the girls. "And he didn't dye his hair; I ragged him about it earlier."

Meryl frowned, bewildered but interested.

Wolfwood reached over and tugged Vash's hair.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Vash slapped the back of his head as Wolfwood pulled two hairs loose and held them up.

"Not dyed, see, even the roots are black."

"You don't have to show them!"

Milly took the hairs as Vash tried to wrestle Wolfwood for them.

"They are all black."

"H-hey, give those back." Vash elbowed Wolfwood in the gut and squirmed free and danced over to Milly. Meryl snatched the hairs from Milly as Vash reached his long arms around her.

"Hey!" He protested. "Those are my hairs."

"What you going to do with them, glue them back on?" Meryl asked, examining them, fascinated.

"No!"

He tried to reach past her and she shoved him back with one hand and held the hairs out of reach with the other. He stretched for a moment then a thought occurred to him. Meryl gave an indignant squeak as Vash placed one hand on her head and with the other grasped three hairs.

"I'll take these, for those."

Meryl froze. He was not pulling, just holding them. In fact, he had not trapped her in any way, and was rather gentle, but he had her. She rolled her eyes up at him as he leaned over sideways and gazed at her, his grin widened.

She slowly handed over the hairs and Vash released her, casting his gaze critically over the top of her head as he did so.

"You've got four grey hairs!" He said with aplomb.

"Aaaggh!" Meryl could not articulate her frustration.

He laughed and ran off as she tore after him.


End file.
